Monday, November 28, 2016

Why nations that are different exhibit similar health
service dysfunctions

I have been rereading Melle Leenstra’s 2012 book, `Beyond
the Façade; the instrumentalisation of the Zambian health sector’. It offers an
interesting insight into the challenges that central African nation faces in
its attempts to provide quality healthcare to its citizens. It reads like a
story of the healthcare system in Uganda or any other poor country. Let us cite
the book at some length.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Why efforts to make peasant farmers go commercial are
unlikely to yield success

President Yoweri Museveni spent a week in Luwero District on
Operation Wealth Creation. The president was teaching farmers to adopt modern
farming techniques in order to increase their output and become commercial
farmers. The actions of the president may have excited the affection of local
people there but it was heavily derided on social media, today the most
powerful medium of communication that has overtaken traditional media such as
newspapers, radio and television. It seems everything Museveni does these days
only attracts criticism from our elite.

How Trump won not because he violated American values but
because he upheld American vices

This week, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to win the
US presidency. This is especially intriguing because Trump had been vilified by
America’s powerful weapons of mass propaganda; the gigantic corporate owned and
controlled media. Every pundit, journalist, academic and politician of any heft
came out to denounce him including fellow Republican Party heavyweights. Trump
just didn’t care: he belittled his Republican critics, insulted the
journalists, denigrated women and threatened ethnic minorities. The elite
accused him of “violating” every code of “American values.”

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Lesson for Central Bank from the experience of the takeover
of Crane Bank

This week, the government injected Shs 200 billion into
Crane Bank to bolster its liquidity position. This is only 40% of the Shs 500
billion needed to bring the bank into a healthy liquidity position. Yet, even
if an extra Shs 300 billion is pumped into the bank, it is unlikely to be
enough to ensure its turnaround. This situation could have been avoided had
Bank of Uganda (BoU) exercised its powers with foresight.